Triangle Fire

If you've ever complained about conditions at your job, you might want to take a moment today to recognize the dozens of young women who died 100 years ago in the horrific fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company.  When people ask why we need unions, it soon becomes clear that they don't know much about labor history in the US.  As Frederick Douglass famously asserted, "Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."  And when demands are dismissed, disaster often follows, as was the case here in NYC in 1911—and workers STILL have to fight for fair and safe working conditions.  PBS has a great interactive site for their recent film on the Triangle Fire; you can watch the complete film here.